South Shore students star in 'Reflections of a Rock Lobster'

One year after the Boston Children’s Theatre broke ground with its production of “Reflections of a Rock Lobster,” it is bringing the play back for an encore. The play is a spare-no-language, powerful, moving and funny drama about growing up gay, adolescent bullying and civil rights.

By Jody Feinberg

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Jody Feinberg

Posted Mar. 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 7, 2013 at 7:12 AM

By Jody Feinberg

Posted Mar. 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 7, 2013 at 7:12 AM

» Social News

One year after the Boston Children’s Theatre broke ground with its production of “Reflections of a Rock Lobster,” it is bringing the play back for an encore.

The play is a spare-no-language, powerful, moving and funny drama about growing up gay, adolescent bullying and civil rights. Director Burgess Clark adapted it from the 1981 memoir by Aaron Fricke, a bullied Rhode Island high school student who won a U.S. District Court case in 1980 to get permission to take his boyfriend to the prom. The rock lobster image – rock lobsters lack claws – expresses the vulnerability of gay students to bullying and prejudice.

The one-weekend run last year received critical acclaim. The play was nominated for a 2012 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding New Script and it earned the theater a Best of Boston recognition by Boston Magazine. Its success affirmed Clark’s decision to tackle a subject avoided by children’s theaters and prompted him to present it again, this time for two weekends.

“We knew it was a risk to produce a new work that focused on these sensitive themes,” said Clark. “The groundswell of support (afterward) was so strong that we felt a responsibility to produce the show again for an even broader audience.”

South Shore high school students performed in the play last year and return in the same or new roles. They are: Rachel Padell of Braintree and Ellis Hampton, Nick McNeil and Niamh O’Connor, all of Quincy. Garrett Sager and Alexandra Upton of Milton and Jeremy Mele of Quincy are new cast members.